Marketing Trust Wars
I just got a call (on my cellphone) from a company calling in regards to my credit card, starting the call by telling me not to worry, it's in good standing, and then proceeded to offer me $40 in free gas and $600 in free grocery coupons.
They then tried to confirm my address and I had to ask again where they were calling from. They told me the name of the company they were calling from which didn't sound familiar, then they explained that they do marketing promotions on behalf of ... other companies I didn't recognize.
Then the big question hit me: What's the catch?
Sure, it might be exciting to get some free stuff, but what do I have to give up in return? What huge database with my name and number will now be spread around to marketers everywhere with a big red tag on it that says "SUCKER" so they can market more free stuff to me and sell me things.
The bigger reality is that I didn't give permission for these people to call me in the first place, so there's no established trust. Maybe if it was my actual credit card company that was calling me to thank me for being such a good customer (how did this company know?) i would have responded differently.
This all point to a deterioration of trust in our world, especially around marketing of products.
Permission, Relevancy, Targeting, Expectation - these aren't just buzzwords designed to sell books, they're actually real things that work and make sense and lend themselves to the core of how companies should act so that they can not only become financially successful but actually provide a valuable trusted service....
They then tried to confirm my address and I had to ask again where they were calling from. They told me the name of the company they were calling from which didn't sound familiar, then they explained that they do marketing promotions on behalf of ... other companies I didn't recognize.
Then the big question hit me: What's the catch?
Sure, it might be exciting to get some free stuff, but what do I have to give up in return? What huge database with my name and number will now be spread around to marketers everywhere with a big red tag on it that says "SUCKER" so they can market more free stuff to me and sell me things.
The bigger reality is that I didn't give permission for these people to call me in the first place, so there's no established trust. Maybe if it was my actual credit card company that was calling me to thank me for being such a good customer (how did this company know?) i would have responded differently.
This all point to a deterioration of trust in our world, especially around marketing of products.
Permission, Relevancy, Targeting, Expectation - these aren't just buzzwords designed to sell books, they're actually real things that work and make sense and lend themselves to the core of how companies should act so that they can not only become financially successful but actually provide a valuable trusted service....
posted by Andy at
10:27 AM
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